Friday, December 17, 2010

This past summer I downloaded Dave Zeltserman's incredible short story collection, 21 TALES, to my Kindle and devoured it like Charlie Sheen at happy hour. If you're not familiar with his work, you should check out one of his books; this guy can really write.

While reading the stories in his collection I remember thinking a couple of things:

1) This guy can really write, and

2) Why don't I do this?

Now, Dave Zeltserman is a pretty accomplished author. He has written some critically acclaimed stuff and although my first novel hasn't even been released yet, it occurred to me that releasing my own short story collection might serve a couple of purposes. It could introduce people who may not be familiar with me, and may not want to part with eight bucks for my novel, to my work. If they then decide they like that work, maybe they will go on to try FINAL VECTOR.

I have also had a decent amount of success with my short fiction and it makes a certain sense, at least to me, to release the short story collection, titled POSTCARDS FROM THE APOCALYPSE, on the eve of my debut novel's release.

So I'm excited to announce that anyone who has signed up for my email newsletter by midnight on Christmas Eve will be eligible for the drawing to win one of five copies of the upcoming POSTCARDS FROM THE APOCALYPSE. To sign up, simply go to http://www.allanleverone.com/ and click on the "Contact" button on the left sidebar, then enter your email info - it is secure and will NEVER be shared with anyone else for any reason.

Among the seventeen stories inside POSTCARDS are "Regrets, I've Had a Few" and "Independence Day," both finalists for a 2009 Derringer Award for Best Short Story, "Uncle Brick and Jimmy Kills," a Derringer Award finalist in 2010 for Best Novelette, and "Dance Hall Drug," a nominee for a 2011 Pushcart Prize.

There is a mixed bag of material in the book, some noir, some mystery fiction and some horror/dark fiction, but as I mention in the foreword, pretty much everything you read involves someone doing something bad to someone else and maybe - or maybe not - getting what's coming to them in the end.

POSTCARDS FROM THE APOCALYPSE will be available shortly after Christmas, but I'd love to see you win a free copy!

About Me

I'm a 53 year old author living in New Hampshire with my wife Sue, three children, one adorable granddaughter and a cat who has used up eight lives.
I'm the author of the Amazon Top 25 overall paid bestseller, THE LONELY MILE, as well as three other novels, three novellas and two story collections.
A 2012 Derringer Award winner for excellence in short mystery fiction as well as a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee, my work has been featured in Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Shroud Magazine, Shotgun Honey, Morpheus Tales, Twisted Dreams, Mysterical-E and many others, as well as the print anthologies INTRIGUE, TEN FOR TEN and NORTHERN HAUNTS.
I am a fan of Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Lee Child, Tom Piccirilli, Dave Zeltserman and Vincent Zandri, among many others.